Opp files motion against crackdown on PTI bikers

LAHORE: The opposition has filed an adjournment motion in the Punjab Assembly (PA) about police crackdown against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers, who were using motorcycles for their mobility in the cities.PA Opposition Leader and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Mian Mehmoodur Rashid submitted the motion in the notice branch of the PA Secretariat on Wednesday.In the motion, the opposition leader has said that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) had accepted defeat in Punjab Province after facing a beat in the federal capital. He said that the Punjab Police have started a crackdown against innocent citizens of the province, virtually taking over administrative control of the province in their hands. The motion further said that the PML-N government was making a conspiracy to pit the masses against army, rangers, and the police. The motion also demanded the judiciary to take notice of the Punjab government’s unconstitutional acts and human rights violations, which were curtailing breathing space for the general public in the province. The opposition leader said that the police had started a crackdown on motorcyclists-cum-PTI workers by installing pickets on roads and that innocent citizens of the province were being disgraced in the name of frisking on these pickets.After filing the motion in the assembly secretariat, the opposition leader told reporters in his chamber that the rulers had enforced ‘civil martial law’ in the province as free movement of citizens had been curtailed by installing police pickets and their basic rights were being violated. He said that Article 245 of the constitution had been imposed in Punjab Province also.Claiming that police were raiding in different areas of the province to arrest PTI workers, Rashid also condemned the PML-N government for harassing the masses and PTI leaders to prevent them from joining the Azadi March on August 14.He also urged police officers to say ‘no’ to rulers on their illegal orders. He also said that his party had advised its district leaders to prepare the lists of ‘bad’ policemen, who would not be spared when the party come into power.